A 38-year-old man charged with being drunk in charge of a vehicle told police he had been sleeping in his car because he was homeless and did not attend to drive.
A contest hearing at Enniskillen Magistrates Court on Wednesday was told that Tomasz Lenart of Derrychara Drive in Enniskillen was found by police asleep in the back of his grey Toyota Avensis at 6.30am on Sunday June 5th this year at Water Street in Lisnaskea.
The previous evening Lenart was reported missing on foot of a text message he had sent to his ex-wife before later being located asleep in the parked and unlocked vehicle. A spokesman for the Public Prosecution Service told the court that police opened the rear passenger door of the car and woke up the defendant. They noted that there was a strong smell of drink and that Lenart was unsteady on his feet when he stepped out of the car. The key of the vehicle was found in his pocket.
After being cautioned, Lenart was conveyed to Enniskillen Police Station where a breath sample was taken, returning a reading of 65mg of alcohol, 30mg above the legal limit. He was charged with drink driving and having no insurance. In his police interview, Lenart said that he “gone somewhere to sleep after a couple of beers and went to his car but did not drive anywhere”.
Under cross-examination by defence barrister Ciaran Roddy and giving evidence through an interpreter, Lenart said that at the time of the incident he had been on sick leave from work and had separated from his wife. He added that he had been homeless that week and was sleeping in a tent at the Share Centre.
“On the evening of June 4th, I tried to find somewhere to stay for the night and went to my cousin’s place near where my wife lives. I was attacked by one of the neighbours who said I shouldn’t have been there and at that moment I got the idea to just sleep in the car,” he said.
Lenart said he had consumed two beers before going to his cousin’s house at 11pm, two more outside it while sitting on the tarmac and another when he returned to his car before falling asleep at around 2am on the Sunday morning.
In relation to the insurance, Lenart said the vehicle had been insured for 24 hours before he was detected to allow him to move his possessions out of where he had been staying.
When pressed by the prosecution, the defendant said he had not driven to his cousin’s house but instead walked there because the car was no longer insured after he took out the 24 hour policy.
District Judge Nigel Broderick said there was clear evidence that the amount of alcohol Lenart had consumed was in excess of the legal limit but said he was satisfied that the defendant was using his vehicle to sleep because he was homeless.
Dismissing the drink driving charge, he said that Lenart had “given credible evidence that the prosecution couldn’t challenge in any meaningful way”.
Mr Roddy said his client, a father-of-one who works as a factory operator, didn’t appreciate that he was committing a criminal offence by having his car sitting stationary in a car park uninsured.
Lenart was fined £250 on the no insurance charge and had six penalty points endorsed on his licence.
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